Florida Gators softball shuts out Boston University

Special report on the Florida Gators softball team:

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 5-seed Florida topped the Boston University Terriers 3-0 on Friday afternoon in front of a great crowd at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
 
Florida moves on to play Boise State on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the winner’s bracket of the NCAA Regional. The Broncos defeated Stanford 9-1 earlier on Friday.
 
The Gators (45-15) were locked into a pitcher’s duel with the Terriers (37-19) through four innings. BU’s Alex Heinen picked up the lone hit during that span with a single up the middle in the first inning off of UF starter Kelly Barnhill (31-11).
 
Florida did reach base in the first and second innings via a pair of walks from Amanda Lorenz and Sophia Reynoso along with a Jordan Matthews hit by pitch.
 
The Terriers picked up their second hit in the fifth to break up Barnhill’s streak of 11-straight batters retired. Marina Sylvestri singled through the left side of the Gators infield, but Barnhill retired the next two batters with back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat.
 
The Gators offense finally broke through in the fifth and rallied for three runs. Freshman pinch-hitter Cheyenne Lindsey started the rally with the Orange and Blue’s first hit of the game with a one out single through the right side of the Terriers infield.
 
A SAC bunt put down by Alex Voss and a four-pitch walk issued to Lorenz set the stage for the RBI base hits by Kendyl Lindaman and Hannah Adams.
 
Boston U. threatened in the top half of the sixth with a pair of back-to-back singles, but the Gators defense showed up big when they needed it most. Sophia Reynoso ranged over from her shortstop position and toppled over into the third base camera well to put an end to BU’s rally attempt.

How It Happened – Boston University – W, 3-0
 

Inning Score Play
B-5th 1-0 Lindaman broke open the scoring in the fifth with a RBI double to left center that scored Lindsey from second base.
B-5th 3-0 Adams continued the scoring as she drove in Lorenz and pinch-runner Lily Mann with a single to right field.

 
 
Notable Notes

  • Florida improved to 42-19 overall in NCAA Regional play with today’s win.
    • The Gators have outscored opponents 129 to 24 and have posted 27 shutouts over 42 games since 2006.
  • Kelly Barnhill picked up five strikeouts in this afternoon’s game against Boston U. and now has 318 strikeouts on the season.
    • Barnhill is currently chasing the single-season record of 363 set by Stacey Nelson (2006-’09).
  • Amanda Lorenz picked up two walks and now sits with 53 on the season and 231 for her career.
    • The Moorpark, Calif. native is the active NCAA career leader in the category and the all-time record holder in UF history.
  • Kendyl Lindaman picked up her team-leading 51st RBI of the season in the bottom of the fifth inning.
  • Hannah Adams is now 7-for-20 (.350) with six RBI over a seven-game span since May 4.

Quotes

Tim Walton

Opening Statement

“Want to say thank you to the crowd today, they were really good and energetic from the first time we walked onto the field and right through the seventh inning. It was fun – you could definitely tell it was postseason softball at KSP, I appreciate that very much. Overall it was a good game – great pitcher’s duel all through the game.”

Kendyl Lindaman

On what BU’s pitcher was doing well:

“She was mixing speeds and moving the ball around. Eventually we caught on to it and adjusted to the little things. I had two pop-ups, so I knew she was going to throw me that change again and I was ready for it.”

Kelly Barnhill

On her performance tonight

“Personally, I don’t think I had my best game tonight, but that doesn’t matter, we got the win. My defense worked really hard behind me making plays. Sophia makes everything look easy out there, even when she is diving into camera wells. I was really working on hitting my spots because my balls weren’t moving as well today.”

Hannah Adams

On Cheyenne Lindsey getting the rally started and what it meant for her confidence at the plate

“It is huge any time someone comes off the bench and gets a hit for you because that’s a huge role to play on a team. That gives everyone in the lineup a lot of confidence and we were just all really proud that Cheyenne was able to do that for us.”


On Cheyenne Lindsey getting the rally started and what it meant for her confidence at the plate
“It is huge any time someone comes off the bench and gets a hit for you because that’s a huge role to play on a team. That gives everyone in the lineup a lot of confidence and we were just all really proud that Cheyenne was able to do that for us.”

Next Up
The Gators will now face Boise State Saturday at 2 p.m. inside Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. The Broncos advanced in the winner’s bracket with a 9-1 win over Stanford.

Andrew Spivey
Andrew always knew he wanted to be involved with sports in some capacity. He began by coaching high school football for six years before deciding to pursue a career in journalism. While coaching, he was a part of two state semifinal teams in the state of Alabama. Given his past coaching experience, he figured covering recruiting would be a perfect fit. He began his career as an intern for Rivals.com, covering University of Florida football recruiting. After interning with Rivals for six months, he joined the Gator Country family as a recruiting analyst. Andrew enjoys spending his free time on the golf course and watching his beloved Atlanta Braves. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewSpiveyGC.